Your pelvic floor

Your Pelvic Floor

What is your pelvic floor and what does it do?

Your pelvic floor is a sling of muscles that attach to the base of your spine (coccyx) at the back and the pubic bone at the front. Your vagina, urethra and anus pass through these muscles.

Your pelvic floor is multi-functional:

• It supports your pelvic organs – bladder, bowel and womb (uterus)
• It can give confident bowel control. Strong and efficient pelvic floor muscles allow you to feel the sensation that you ‘need to go’ and allow you to hold on until you are ready to go
• It prevents urine leaking as your bladder gradually fills up. When your pelvic floor muscles contract they send a message to your bladder to tell it to stop contracting and therefore your desire to wee subsides
• It also prevents urine leaking when there is a pressure increase in the abdomen i.e. when you laugh, sneeze, cough or exercise. The pelvic floor muscles contract and they close the neck of the bladder and squeeze the urethra to stop the urine coming out
• It acts as a turning guide during delivery of a baby

Many woman do not realise they have a problem with their pelvic floor muscles, discover if you need to strengthen your pelvic floor by reading our Have You Got a Problem? feature.